Monday, September 13, 2010

After browsing our entire home library, I recently discovered that we don't really own any "horse" books. No picture books with a horse as a main character, no cowboy books, no horse chapter books besides Farmer Boy...zilch, nada, nothing. This is obviously my own fault. Unlike some of my childhood friends, as a child I never developed an interest in horses or in horse themed books. I've actually only ridden twice in my life, both times at a very gentle, leisurely rate. While I find horses very beautiful, I've never had the chance to personally connect with them and experience life around them. Would familiarity have sparked a greater interest? Perhaps, but for now, I'm happy to watch from a distance and admire this incredible animal.

SECRETARIAT, a new movie from Walt Disney Pictures about the amazing racehorse that captured the Triple Crown in 1973, will release in theaters on October 8th. Perhaps the release will spur an interest in horse-related reads. Here's the description from Disney:

Against all odds, housewife and mother Penny Chenery (Diane Lane)—with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich)—navigates the male-dominated horseracing business, ultimately taking Secretariat on a spectacular journey to become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and perhaps the greatest racehorse of all time.

After learning about this film I immediately wondered if there were any good children's books available about this racing legend. Two books caught my attention: a picture book, I Rode the Red Horse by Barbara Libby and a soon-to-be released book for young readers ages 12 and older titled, The Big Red Horse, The Secretariat Story by Lawrence Scanlan. I'm hoping to get my hands on the first title so that I can share it with my children, but it is out of print and very few libraries own it. There's also a coloring book, Great Racehorses (Dover Pictoral Archive) that includes several famous thoroughbreds including Secretariat. Life on a Horse Farm by Judy Wolfman and Racehorses by Michael Sandler also sound like something my kids might like, but neither look like they specifically mention Secretariat. Two books meant for adults might appeal to older children because they include photographs: Secretariat's Meadow and Secretariat by Raymond G. Woolfe, Jr. I'm actually a little disappointed in the children's book options featuring Secretariat. Perhaps after the movie appears in theaters, publishers will release more books about this interesting horse.

In my searches I did find a wonderful pdf lesson planning kit for educators about horse racing. Author Patsi B. Trollinger wrote it to correspond with her book about a famous jockey, but it contains a lot of general horse racing information and activities. For instance, did you know that thoroughbreds must be registered in a color category? -- Secretariat was a Chestnut.

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Thanks to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures for sponsoring this giveaway. I did not receive any free products or other type of compensation for writing this post. (I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a very small commission for products purchased through my Amazon links. View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)

Oh, I Love Black Beauty and The Horse Whiperer. Great books. I am subscribed to Horse Illustrated Magazine, which is great. I loved to trailer to Secretariat. I can't wait for the movie! caliblue7 at gmail dot com

My daughter and I are looking forward to seeing this movie -- she loves horses as much as I did (and still do). I read a lot of horse books as a kid -- one of my favorites was The Black Stallion and the other horse books by Farley.

I didn't have much contact with horses in "real life" growing up, I still haven't, but I was obsessed with them and read everything I could get my hands on. I can't name just one. I read the Flicka books, Misty of Chincoteague and the other Marguerite Henry novels, Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series. I had a couple of books about a horse named Gypsy, and a couple of other series about young women at racing stables. My mom signed me up for a horse book club once; I think all I got was the introductory books and then the one at full price (most of my books were used, so these were real treasures): Big Jump for Robin, A Filly for Joan, C.W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories, King of the Wind, and Ride a Wild Pony. I loved them all!

About Me

Brimful Curiosities is a mom blog/book blog featuring reviews and posts on children's books, music, educational products, toys and more. It's home to the weekly "Full to the Brim" Kid's Book Giveaway List. Occasionally it includes non-children related product and book reviews and personal postings.